Can A  Nightmare Turn Into A Dream?
by TorridGambit
Summary: BuffyDean. What if that guy, Max, had a younger sister named Buffy? The story starts off after their father dies. What is Buffy’s reaction when she sees two really good looking priests at her door? Reviews make me happy :
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR:** Reptile Tongue (formerly known as Britt. I am going to make Reptile Tongue my penname)  
**TITLE:** Can A Nightmare Turn into a Dream?  
**RATING:** R  
**SPOILERS**: Supernatural Season 1 but more specifically major spoilers for the episode (Nightmares Season 1; Episode 14)  
**SUMMARY**: What if that boy, Max, had a younger sister named Buffy? The story starts off after their father dies. What is Buffy's reaction when she sees two really good looking priests at her door?  
**WARNINGS**: Violence, strong language  
**DISCLAIMER**: Nothing is mine damnit! The story is based on the episode "Nightmare" from Supernatural season 1. Dean, Sam, Max, Max's step-mom, Max's dad, Max's uncle all belong to Eric Kripke. And Buffy belongs to Joss Whedon.

**Challenge**: Take an episode from Supernatural and change it so as to fit Buffy into the picture. Stick as close as you can to the episode. And make it Buffy/Dean!

Chapter 1

Buffy tossed and turned throughout the night. She didn't know why the bed just seemed so uncomfortable all of a sudden. She was almost restless. Like her skin was just too tight for her body. Maybe if she went out for a run, she would be able to exhaust herself or something. That's what she tended to always do. Whenever she didn't know what to do with herself, she ran. Or whenever something got too hard at home, she would run until her lungs gave out.

After she stepped out of her bed, she stretched her strong little body and walked over to her dresser to put on her small running shorts. She kept on her night tank top but threw over a navy hoodie written MICHIGAN in large white capitol letters over the front.

Opening her bedroom door as quietly as she could, she headed downstairs on practically tippy toes. Checking that no one was bothered out of sleep, she headed into the kitchen for a quick glass of water but she then heard the car running. Maybe dad came back from work late? Checking her cellphone, she noticed it was really, really late.

Oh god… what if he has been drinking again… except he usually doesn't drink on the way from work…

Wanting to put him to bed if he has been drinking, she headed out to the garage and the strong smell of gas drowned her senses. Noticing that the garage door was closed, she started to panic. Looking quickly over the car, she didn't see anyone inside.

"Dad…?"

The echo of her voice only made her more anxious.

"Dad!? Dad are you okay!??"

The absent response had her running around to the car for maybe he fell and passed out. Now, she felt she knew for sure he had been drinking. Seeing no open door and no awkwardly body spilling out of the side door, she checked inside the car again. Maybe he passed out inside?

Seeing that her dad was actually inside, relief set in. As well as the strong feeling of dread. He was the meanest when he was drunk but if he passed out, he won't wake up in the morning until after Max headed for class so he'd be safe. But now Buffy started to wonder what had happened while her dad drove drunk.

Wait a minute…. If he was drunk, how did he manage to park in the garage without breaking anything and manage to remember to close the door.

Looking closer inside and standing at a different angle, she found herself staring at the worst possible picture. The eyes of her father staring up at her with no movement, no blinking, and no life.

She didn't even know she was screaming until her brother, Max came bounding down the stairs and held onto her asking what was wrong. She sobbed into his t-shirt and heard her mother try to supposedly wake her father up back into life but with no avail.

Buffy may have hated her father a lot of the time, but she never ever would forget the site of the man that gave her flesh and blood looking so cold. Buffy, with tear still pouring down her cheeks, stood up and Max let go. Buffy turned to look at him and saw that his eyes have not shed a tear. But they held a lot of pain.

_He's probably conflicted. He hates Dad but he wouldn't have wanted him to die…_ Buffy thought.

"We need to call someone. To come and… umm… take care of…" and she couldn't continue. Max put his hand on her shoulder letting her know he will take charge of calling the people needed.

Nodding in gratitude towards her brother, she headed over to her mother and slowly removed her mother from her now dead father.

"Mom... mom... mommy?"

"Oh Buffy!" and her mother embraced Buffy with a strong hold afraid that if she let her go, she might die too.

Buffy couldn't contain herself any longer. Both fell to the floor sobbing and clutching each other with dear life.


	2. Chapter 2

**AUTHOR**: Reptile Tongue (formerly known as Britt or medicated genius. Reptile Tongue is going to officially my penname)

**TITLE**: Can A Nightmare Turn Into A Dream?

**RATING**: R

**SPOILERS**: Supernatural Season 1 but more specifically episode 14 (Nightmare)

**SUMMARY**: What if that guy, Max, had a younger sister named Buffy? The story starts off after their father dies. What is Buffy's reaction when she sees two really good looking priests at her door?

**WARNING**: Violence and strong language.

**DISCLAIMER**: NOTHING IS MINE!

**CHALLENGE**: Take an episode from Supernatural and change it to fit Buffy into the picture. Stick as close as you can to the episode. And make it Buffy/Dean!

Chapter 2

"This has got to be a whole new low for us…"

Dean gave Sam his typical smirk, then both turned their gaze to the now opened door. Suddenly, air was shot out of Dean's lungs in what felt like a fast and hard punch.

The greenest eyes Dean has ever seen were staring up at both of them. For a moment, they seemed to be filled with such life and curiosity that it made Dean's heart sing. But then, just as quickly, as the fire flamed, it extinguished and reminded Dean of why they were originally there.

"Y-yes? Can I help you, fathers?" the small blonde asked.

Sam nudged Dean but saw that Dean was having trouble finding his tongue. Sam cleared his throat and looked at the young woman kindly.

"Um yes... I am Father Freely and this is Father Simmons. We are both very sorry for your loss. May we come in?"

Embarrassed at not thinking of inviting them in sooner, Buffy bowed her head and widened the door. After they entered, both with eyes solely fixed on her, she closed the door and awkward silence filled the hallway. Dean wanted to hear her voice again and he muddled through his mind on what he could possibly say.

"It's in difficult times like these when the lord's guidance is most needed-"

"Look, I don't mean any offense or anything but nothing you can say at this moment is really going to help me feel better. You wanna pitch your whole 'lord has a plan thing', fine. But I suggest you try that mojo on someone else."

"Buffy!"

All three in the hallway turned to a blonde attractive woman who seemed to have a resemblance towards Buffy. She walked over to Buffy and gave her a look only a parent could give.

"I'm sorry about my daughter, Buffy. But as can be expected, we're just all upset over Jim's d-death."

Buffy looked up to her mother, laid a hand on her back and rubbed lightly. It was very obvious to both Sam and Dean that this family had a LONG way to go.

"Would you both like to sit down? Buffy, why don't you get them some coffee?"

Buffy blushed at snapping and kept her head down as she nodded and walked to the kitchen to get the coffee.

"Don't worry Mrs. Miller. We are not offended."

"If anything we admire spunk in a kid."

"Oh, she's not a kid. Buffy's always looked young for her age, but she is almost finishing high school. They grow up so fast…."

Sam sensed the woman's sudden feeling of overwhelming pain and offered for all three of them to sit on the couch.

Sam looked over the mother and understood the pain she was feeling. The loss of losing someone so immediate in the family was a very long process, and Sam started to wonder if his brother and he were ever going to get over the loss of their mother. Revenge is something that only can fix the pain for so long…

Buffy then came in, smiling slightly as she was carrying a tray. Dean saw her, and wanted to be polite, so he basically sprang up to help her set everything down. But in his eagerness, he accidentally pushed the tray out of Buffy's fingers. When everything came crashing down, Buffy watched the cups fall slowly to the floor and spread into little pieces. Staring at the floor, she watched as the coffee spread across the wooden planks…

--Flashback--

_Screams of pain erupted throughout the house from the next room. They were not hers. It was promised that they would never be hers…_

_But she still couldn't watch as Max was getting another beating. She had ceased trying to stop her father a long time ago… When threatened that she would get the same treatment if she stepped in his way, Buffy moved away. She was only 5 years old at the time and her daddy has always been the scary thing that would haunt her dreams night and day, since she could open her eyes. This was what she grew up with…_

_She stayed in her room on her bed like a good little girl. Daddy told her that if she wanted to be a good little girl, she had to sit on that bed. Good little girls didn't interrupt daddy. Good little girls stayed in their room until they were called out. _

_Then, she jumped, when she heard something hit the wall that connected hers and Max's room. What set her blood cold, however, was the chilling silence after the loud thump._

"_Stay on the bed... stay on the bed… stay on the bed..." Buffy tried to remind herself, but the seconds kept on ticking as she heard no movement._

_What should she do? Should she check if Max is okay? What if daddy killed Max? What if daddy just decided to stop? Daddy would get very mad if she moved… But she had to know if Max was still okay._

_She slowly put her hands on the bed and inched herself towards the edge. Seeing that her dad wasn't coming in to scream at her for moving, she got braver and unsteadily stepped on the ground._

_Eyes wide, ready to spring to safety, she tip-toed for what seemed like hours to Max's room. She opened the door and her eyes, if it was possible, got even wider. Their mossy green depths filled with tears as she trailed the fast spreading blood on the hard wood floor. Her eyes laid on Max and she rushed to him._

"_Max! Max! MAX, WAKE UP!"_

_Not even realizing that her dad was standing off in a corner, Buffy kept trying to get Max to wake up. Eventually Max fluttered his eyes and started to panic, from the fear he had felt before losing consciousness._

"_Buffy!? What are you-?"_

_He stopped when he saw his dad standing in the corner, watching them both. Buffy looked to where Max was looking and started at the sight of her father watching her._

"_Daddy! I didn't mean to move-"_

"_Quiet Buffy!"_

_Buffy's eyes were now pouring tears from fear, but she was trying as hard as she could to contain herself from becoming hysterical…_

"_Buffy, go get the bandages from the bathroom."_

_Buffy didn't need to be told twice. She sprang from the room and got the medical supplies that were easily accessible for such situations. She wanted to hurry back to the room for she didn't want Max to be left for much longer._

_Buffy yelled to her mother downstairs to come up. The usual routine. Buffy would sit on the bed in her room whenever Max and Dad were 'busy'. Buffy's mother would be downstairs trying to ignore what was going on in her house. If Max was very badly hurt to the point of needing the hospital, Buffy would tell her mother when to come up to help fix the damage. Somehow this unspoken pattern became the standard procedure._

_Buffy passed her dad in the hallway, careful not to touch him, as she entered Max's room. Max was now crawling to his bed with what seemed a lot of pain and difficulty. Buffy looked at the wall and winced when she saw the dent. She assumed that was where Max's head collided into it.._

_Buffy headed over to Max to help him get up and into bed. Buffy has always been tiny. And the fact that she was 10 years old and her brother was 14 didn't help all the much for her to help get her brother to his bed._

"_What did you do?"_

_Max looked at her with such pain in his eyes, Buffy couldn't move._

"_I asked him how work was" Max then chuckled sarcastically, which led to him coughing up some blood._

_Buffy set him down on the bed as well as she could._

"_That's not funny. And don't talk if it hurts."_

_She turned away, so Max wouldn't see the look on her face, and walked to the door where her mother was standing. _

"_He's bleeding mostly from his head where it hit the wall, and there're lots of scrapes on his arms," Buffy said in a low whisper._

_Buffy looked back to the floor where her brother lay unconscious and saw the pool of blood still spreading throughout the floor. Into the cracks. So red. So, so, so red._

"_I'll go get the paper towels," Buffy said, almost hypnotized by the swirls of red settling into the wood._

Buffy started from her memory, when she saw her mother and the two Fathers staring at her.

"I'm so sorry! I'm going to go and get the… the… paper towels…"

Like a zombie, Buffy headed to the kitchen and took the paper towels from their usual place. It was funny how she needed them because she spilled coffee instead needing to clean up someone's blood. She stared at the paper towels as she slowly took a few sheets and divided them from the rest of the roll.

Mouth slightly open, lost in her own miserable world, she didn't even realize that somebody stepped into the kitchen until she felt a hand make contact with her shoulder.

Buffy gasped and clutched the paper towels to her heart as she spun around to see Father Simmons staring at her.

"Oh my god… in this house, you can't just sneak up on people like that!"

"Sorry! Jeez! Wait... What do you mean, 'in this house'?"

"Huh? Oh, uh… nothing. I'm sorry Father, I mean… nothing… absolutely nothing…" and she turned around so she wouldn't have to face him.

"You know, you can just call me Dean. Father is mainly used at the church."

Buffy turned back to _Dean_ and smiled slightly.

"That's a nice name." Dean chuckled.

"Glad you think so. And Buffy kinda suits you, actually."

"Really? I always hated my name. Whenever I told people it, they'd crinkle their noses like there was a bad smell and ask me if I was joking. Sure, I like to joke about my name; I think it's a real riot." Then she rolled her eyes in a joking manner.

Dean burst out laughing.

"No, seriously. Buffy's a nice name. When you first hear it, it's kinda weird, but I think you're an interesting girl."

"Woman."

Dean didn't have a single doubt that this young woman standing in front of him was in fact much wiser beyond her years than she should be.

"I know I look young but I'm graduating from high school soon. Already 18."

"Congrats."

"Thank you…"

A slightly awkward silence swept over them, both wanting to say something but neither knew what.

"Why did you come in here?"

"What?"

"Why… why did you come in here? Are you looking for something?"

"Actually I came in cause you looked upset…"

"Nope. Everything's peachy."

"Oh really?"

Buffy looked pointedly at his face, that screamed 'I-don't-believe-you'.

"I actually get it."

"Get what?"

"What you're trying to do. Acting like you have it under control when deep down you're falling apart."

Buffy breathed in deep and batted her eyelashes to keep the tears from falling down.

"I don't mean to be blunt but you just lost someone. You can cry. You can scream." Dean kept walking closer to her until Buffy could see every single hue of green his eyes.

"You can show pain. Doesn't mean something bad's gonna happen if you do…"

Buffy was speechless. Never has she heard so few words mean so much. In this house, you hide everything. Cover what skeletons are hiding in your closet and pray to god that no one else knows. Dean somehow made sense. But it was easier said than done. Buffy didn't grow up like that. With this kind of openness that Dean was talking about. So naturally, she rejected it.

"You don't know what you're talking about." And with that, she left the room, body screaming and all to be that close to him again.

Buffy headed out to the living room again and saw that some of the guests were still there. She went to where the main couch where her mother and Father Freely were still talking.

"Buffy, dear. Are you all right?"

"Just fine, mom. I'll just clean this and be out of your hair.."

"You know, Buffy?"

"Yes, Father?"

"You can just call me Sam." And he gave her a very friendly smile.

"Alright, Sam."

"Would you care to talk to either me or Dean? I understand what a difficult time it is right now,"

"She told you didn't she?"

"Told me what?"

"That I was the one who…" Buffy trailed off.

Sam looked worried for a quick second then understood what she was hinting at.

"Yes, she did tell me that you were the one who found him."

Buffy quickly looked down and finished with the cleaning not looking back up at Sam or her mother. Taking a deep breath, she carried the stuff back into the kitchen, and was thankful that Dean was not still there. She didn't have any more energy to clean or to talk to guests. Leaving the pile of broken dishes on the counter, she slowly walked up the stairs to her bedroom. Hearing voices, she walked even quieter up the steps.

She couldn't hear anything specific as she walked closer. Dean was talking to the other Father but then he spotted her and stopped talking.

"What are you two doing up here?"

"Ummm… uh… we were just… wondering if you had a guest room."

"What? Why?"

Dean looked like he was about to ask the same thing but he held his tongue waiting for Sam to explain the reasoning of this cover up.

"Well because Dean and I, as part of the church, want to help you out. To maybe stay with you for a couple of days, and make sure that everyone here gets back up on their feet."

"I have never heard of such a thing…"

"Well, it happens sometimes… and Dean and I… are… worried."

Buffy scrunched up her nose. Normally the idea of two strangers staying at her house would creep her out to the major extreme, but these two gave her a sense of familiarity… safety. What on earth her mother would say right now, she wasn't sure.

Practically seeing what was going on in her head, Dean added, "And of course, we'll discuss it with your mother."

Buffy was exhausted but she was willing to do one last thing before she crashed in her room.

"Alright… sure. We have a guest room. Do you guys want to share a bed or…"

"NO!"

Buffy smirked slightly at Dean's sudden response. Seeing him uneasy with what she was asking was sort of hilarious. But the question was definitely on her mind, considering he was a nummy treat and he and Sam seemed interestingly close.

"I mean… no. No we would like maybe another sleeping bag or something."

Buffy nodded slowly and smirked as she turned around and headed back downstairs to ask her mother.

BUFFYDEANBUFFYDEANBUFFYDEANBUFFYDEANBUFFYDEANBUFFY

When Buffy was out of sight, Dean turned on Sam.

"Sam! What the hell!? Why are we staying here!??"

"Dean, there is something you need to know about Buffy."

"What?"

"Dean, Buffy was the one who found him… her dad…"

"Not that I don't feel terribly depressed already, but what does this have to do with us staying here?"

"Something is off, Dean. Can't you feel it? This family has a secret. The way that Jim Miller died…"

"Yeah, this whole family is spooked.."

"What did you and Buffy talk about?"

Dean looked at Sam. He didn't want to betray Buffy's trust.

"Nothing. Just small stuff."

Sam looked at Dean then started to smile.

"What? Don't look at me like that."

"You like her."

"What?! I do not! And besides, we're getting off track here. What did you find out from Mrs. Miller?"

Sam looked at Dean but decided to leave it… for now.

"Okay, well Mrs. Miller said that Jim didn't have a history of depression. They also had a son, Max, who was downstairs but he barely said a word to me. Nothing useful. They bought this house recently and it's actually fairly new. No weird voices at night. No electrical shortages. So basically, no poltergeists or anything. What about you? Did you find anything while you were up here?"

"I'm telling you, man! Nothing! I'm still not so sure you interpreted your 'vision' right… There is nothing going on with the Millers. Just a normal everyday family, now with issues."

"But come on, Dean. You didn't see this vision. It was…" Then Sam heard walking on the stairs.

Both Dean and Sam turned to Buffy who was now accompanied by her mother.

"I'll go get the pillows and sheets. Buffy, could you find your sleeping bag?"

Buffy nodded and headed to her room.

Later that evening, Dean and Sam paid for the Chinese take out as they headed back to the house. The family had dinner with no talking. Buffy wasn't even able to try and lighten the mood. Dean and Sam sensed the family needed some time, so they didn't even try to cheer them up.

It was when everyone started going to bed that Buffy suddenly knew from deep down in her gut, that nothing in this family would ever be the same. Not even close.


	3. Chapter 3

**AUTHOR**: Reptile Tongue

**TITLE**: Can A Nightmare Turn Into A Dream?

**RATING**: R

**SPOILERS**: Supernatural Season 1 but more specifically episode 14 (Nightmare)

**SUMMARY**: What if that guy, Max, had a younger sister named Buffy? The story starts off after their father dies. What is Buffy's reaction when she sees two really good looking priests at her door?

**WARNING**: Violence and strong language.

**DISCLAIMER**: NOTHING IS MINE!

**CHALLENGE**: Take an episode from Supernatural and change it to fit Buffy into the picture. Stick as close as you can to the episode. And make it Buffy/Dean.

**A/N**: Okay, lately I've been kind of not sticking exactly to the episode. I've still kept the story going but I'm really going for my own version and I want the connection between Buffy and Max to grow. Which is why I am having Sam and Dean stay with the Millers. Also, to make this story interesting, I am doing it more from Buffy's perspective. So if you haven't seen this episode, you might think it's sort of lacking interaction between Sam and Dean. It's there. Also, I don't want to cheapen the challenge. I'm being creative here in making everything work and interesting so of course there are changes in the story and dialogue; I hope you guys are accepting it. Now I'm happy with the people that are reading it so far! And please review as we go along here! I love feedback :DD

Chapter 3

Buffy woke up the next morning to find Dean and Sam gone. Shrugging and heading downstairs anyways to make herself some breakfast and suddenly feeling very much awake, the past few days came crashing down on her, like an overwhelming tsunami.

Her life had always been a never ending roller coaster, with throw-up worthy loops. Millions of times she had wondered what her life would be like without her dad around… Now that it was happening, it didn't seem so simple. It wasn't like as soon as her mean daddy was gone, she would be okay. He could be mean and cruel. But he was her dad, right?

Or should she be completely relieved that the bad guy was gone? Poof. There, no more bad life. No, it was complicated… So horribly complicated she couldn't even begin to make sense. Her dad had never beat her. So he wasn't so completely horrible?

That was the thing that irked her. She had seen her father as a monster. All her life. But he was never a monster to her. She always wondered why. Why Max? Why sweet little Max? He was so young when the beatings started. And everyone wondered when Jim was going to take it out on them. Buffy waited for it. Waited and waited till she thought she wouldn't be able to take it anymore.

She still didn't understand it. Why Max would get beaten to a bloody mess while Buffy was only told to sit on her bed and wait until it was over. All Buffy knew, was that since Max's real mother died, their father had never been the same.

But Buffy was still upset. Upset that her father died. She didn't have a lot of good memories with her father. Mostly they were just bad ones that made her cower in fear, but the worst ones were when they were younger. When Jim's brother used to live next door…

Buffy shuddered. Max'd had it the worst then. Jim's brother sometimes would go after him too. The neighbor had even called the police 7 or 8 times, but it never did any good. How they got away with it, Buffy didn't know. She was too young to remember such specific details.

Uncle Roger didn't come over as much anymore… thank god.

Buffy suddenly didn't feel like eating anymore.

Then she heard the front door open. Grabbing a kitchen knife, she tip-toed to the main hallway and raised her knife. When she finally turned into the hallway, a very scared looking Dean suddenly stumbled back into Sam in shock. Both fell to the floor rather ungracefully.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I-I didn't know you would come back this early… Were you guys out all night?"

When both Sam and Dean finally untangled themselves from each other, they looked at each other and back at Buffy.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Ummm.. nothing… is everyone up yet?"

"No, just me. And hey. Where are your priesty outfits?"

Sam and Dean looked at each other quickly. Neither knew if they were supposed to wear them all the time or not.

"Ummm.. We put them in the wash. They got dirty, so we put on our normal everyday clothes."

Buffy looked at them suspiciously for a moment then decided what they said was valid. Buffy turned around to head to the living room. She didn't feel like doing anything today, except sitting around and getting fat, maybe.

When she was about to plop on the couch, she saw her mother sleeping. Buffy understood her mother probably didn't want to sleep in the same bed, without her husband in it. Buffy left her mother on the couch, not wanting to disturb her sleep.

She headed back upstairs and saw Max in his room.

"Hey brotha from anotha motha."

"You know that joke is getting old…"

"I know. How're you feeling?"

"In the general sense or in a 'now that dad's gone' way?"

"I guess more of the second. I know you've always hated him.. And you always had good reason to. But… is there some part of you… that feels sad? Even a little bit?"

"NO."

After a few seconds, Buffy realized that Max wasn't going to explain himself. As if the answer was so simple. She even felt a little surprised at how cold and emotionless that sounded. No. No he didn't feel even a little bit sad that his father had committed suicide…

_Maybe he's just in shock… and eventually it's going to hit him that his dad is gone. And that he is now basically an orphan…_she thought.

Buffy kissed her brother on his forehead, and, before she completely walked out of the room, she turned back to face him.

"I'm sorry…"

What she was specifically sorry for, she in no way wanted to get into. It would just give her a headache so big, she'd collapse from exhaustion. When she stepped out of the room, she saw Dean standing in the hallway facing the door.

"Can I help you, Dean?"

"I just wanted to talk to Max. Is he available?"

"Um… I don't think Max is ready to talk to anyone just yet…"

"Oh yeah, why not?"

Buffy raised her eyebrows.

"Are you sure you guys are priests?" she asked in a sarcastic manner.

"You're right, sorry. Why don't you and I go for a drive or something?"

"How about a run. I haven't done that in a while and I could really use it."

"A run? At this time of the morning?"

"Well maybe you shouldn't have done whatever it is you were doing this morning. Besides! It'll be good for ya! God… I'm supposed to be the depressing one…"

Dean gave her a full blown smile. Buffy felt her knees buckle. Oh yeah, this Dean was major eye candy.

"Just let me go change."

"Alright. I'll meet you after I do too and tell Sammy where I'm going."

"You call him Sammy? Are you guys close cousins or something?"

"Uh, yeah. He's like a little brother to me. Known-him-his-whole-life kinda deal."

"Huh… cool. And you both are priests?"

"Well, our whole family was pretty religious."

Buffy nodded in acceptance and headed inside her room. To Dean's disappointment, she closed the door. That girl was going to kill him by the time they finished the job, which was going to get longer as it got weirder.

And, if last night was any indication, something very weird was going on with this family! Sam'd had another vision smack dab in the middle of the night. They were lucky he didn't wake up the whole house!

The vision led to Jim's brother Roger, whom Sam met while Buffy and Dean were still in the kitchen, being murdered. They drove to Roger's house as fast as they could but they were too late. The image of Roger's head sliced off his body through the window would haunt Dean for a very long time.

Now they were just waiting for someone to call the house and let them know that Roger had died, too. When Buffy saw them this morning, Dean was fighting with himself to tell her but he knew that it would be too suspicious, if she knew that he knew.

Dean headed into the room he and Sam shared and, as usual, saw Sam on his laptop.

"If there is a curse following this family around, then maybe we should be with them at all times…"

"Umm, this is sort of why we're stayin' with them. What's your point?"

"Well Buffy n' me are goin' out for a run. Why don't you talk to Max while I'm gone?"

"Oh my god…" Sam looked, annoyed, at Dean.

"WHAT?"

"You're going to try something with her after her dad just RECENTLY DIED!"

"Dude! I'm a professional! I'm offended you would think that I would do that…"

Sam looked at Dean, like a mother not believing her child's outrageous story about how the cookies mysteriously disappeared.

"Sam, stop lookin' at me like that. I'm not gonna lie. She is very, very cute. But I won't try anything. We're just… friends."

Sam scoffed. Never in his whole life did Dean have females as 'just friends'.

"Just remember that she is not in a right state of mind. She is looking right now for anything that might heal her pain… don't forget that."

"Yeah, I know."

Sighing from the mixed feelings, Dean crouched over his bag and searched for clothes he could run in.

"Dude… do we have anything besides jeans?"

BUFFYDEANBUFFYDEANBUFFYDEANBUFFYDEANBUFFYDEANBUFFY

When Buffy stepped out of her room, she searched around the hallway for Dean. She headed downstairs thinking that maybe he was in the kitchen or something. The man loved to eat.

Entering the kitchen, Buffy had to actually gulp. How on earth could this man be a priest? A man of God? He looked more like the idea of God's PERFECT MAN.

Standing over the kitchen sink was Dean, in just a pair of jeans and sneakers. NOTHING ELSE. Buffy licked her suddenly incredibly dry lips, imagining that she could actually lick his slightly tanned skin.

Strong broad shoulders angling down to a trim waist. Oh, how she wished she could just run her hands up and down that back. Muscles formed as he raised a glass of water to his lips. Buffy's gaze trailed Dean's spine, down to his butt. Good god, his butt was perfect, too! Hard and firm, holding up the comfortable jeans around his waist. Light trailed around him through the window, making him look almost ethereal. Buffy knew it was rude to stare, but, God help her, just give her a few more minutes to take the perfect picture, so she'd be able to keep the memory around for years to come.

Then Buffy saw his shoulder twitch, and knew he had felt her presence. Quickly turning her head away as he did, she contemplated whether she should ask.

"Doesn't being a man of God rule out walking around like that?"

Dean smirked. Okay, he knew that he was rather a good looking guy. What was he, blind? But still, seeing Buffy blush like that gave him more pride than any other woman appreciating his looks would have given him. Buffy was so beautiful, that he found himself, on more than a few occasions, unable to stop looking at her. It was only now that, for the first time, he saw some kind of reaction from her part on their attraction. At least he knew that it was, on some level, mutual.

"Why? Does it bother you?"

Buffy wanted to smack the smirk off his face, if that too didn't send butterflies to her stomach. Buffy definitely noticed Dean. Since he had entered the house, the past few days had been undeniable exhausting. She couldn't think of anyone that way yet… and these feelings of attraction she was feeling towards him were bothering her. Shouldn't she be grieving right now?

That particular question was already there from the mixed feelings she'd had towards her dad, but now even more so, when she found she could still enjoy life at moments like these… when Dean was around. So much confusion over so many things, Buffy had no idea how she even managed to form sentences anymore.

"Yes it does bother me. And besides, you can't… can't run like th-that. You can't run in jeans and frankly… running without a shirt? It's not summer outside."

Buffy silently congratulated herself on being able to perform **vowels** when Dean's very lickable chest taunted her very eyes.

"Yeah, I know, but other than the outfit we… wear at church, we mostly carry around jeans. I was hoping maybe Max had an A-shirt I could borrow?"

"That still doesn't explain you going out in an A-shirt in the cold…"

Then Dean got that mischievous look, a look he had got in his eyes a couple of times since he walked through the door. He walked slowly towards Buffy, like a predator to prey, eyes still trained on her. Buffy would have backed into the wall, but she forced herself to stand her ground as her legs very quickly turned to jelly. But it was so damn hard when his chest seemed to be getting closer. The word 'man boobs' came to Buffy's mind but her mouth wasn't working well enough to even accidentally say it out loud.

"I plan on getting sweaty… don't you?" he whispered so damn close to her ear.

Buffy stood stock still unable to move. Dean walked out of the kitchen, upstairs, and he could have sworn he heard a "oh boy…" coming from the kitchen.

His grin was pasted on his face as he walked up the stairs silently congratulating himself. True, he did promise not to push Buffy but he was just DYING to know if he had any affect on her. She looked so immune to him sexually, he was starting to get worried that she didn't/couldn't look at him that way. He headed into Max's room, got his a-shirt, and rushed back downstairs.

Buffy was waiting, leaning against the wall looking fairly composed, a playful grin set on her face. Dean sent her one as well.

His grin got wider when Buffy took off her over sized sweatshirt as well leaving just a t-shirt under with cleavage. He raised his eyebrow at her.

"Aren't you afraid of getting cold?" he threw back at her.

"I definitely plan on getting sweaty. And besides… getting frozen to death is for wimps."

The last few words she said with a smile letting him know she was joking. A silent battle soon formed… Who would crack under the cold?

Dean let her out first not because he wanted to be polite, although that was how he made it out to be. He just wanted to check out her ass. And he was pretty sure she put more hip into it just for him!

At first, both were totally and completely freezing, but soon both he and Buffy were running fast enough that sweat was trickling down both their foreheads.

Every once in a while during their run, both would check the other out, and, if caught, the other would send a smirk his or her way.

Inside, Buffy wished that it was more summery out so whenever they slowed down or needed a quick break, pneumonia wouldn't be a huge threat. Sometimes she saw him slowing down just so he could check out her ass.

One thing was for sure, that even both their lungs were ready to burst any second, all either of them wanted to do was to keep on running with each other.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** And I totally forgot to mention it earlier! The mother is not Joyce. It's the mother from the actual episode 'Nightmare'. When I said that she looked similar to Buffy, I meant it. It might be the blonde hair… shrugs

**A/N 2**: I dedicate this chapter to Lyndz who beta-d this fic for me! Thanks sweetie 

Chapter 4

Sam's long form stood in front of the mirror checking that he looked like an authentic priest, while trying to form connections that he knew were there, but were hidden rather deep from the surface. When Mrs. Miller got the call about Roger's death this afternoon, she collapsed to the floor and Sam had taken her to bed so she could rest. Sam wanted to give these people their privacy but they needed to stop DYING first! Max was once again dealing with people downstairs and Dean's cellphone was left on the bed while he and Buffy went out for a run.

Sam headed downstairs to help Max but found to his shock, that the house was fairly empty. Max alone stood next to the dinner table which was piled with food. Not wanting to scare him, Sam made his footsteps more noticeable.

Despite hearing footsteps behind him, Max still turned around in slight panic, visibly calming however, when he saw that it was the "priest" who approached. Sam smiled gently in reassurance.

"Hey, uh... where did everybody go?"

"All these people kept coming with, like, casseroles. I finally had to tell them all to go away." Max gestured behind himself to the dinner table. "You know... 'cause nothing says 'I'm sorry' like a tuna casserole." Both boys grimly chuckled then Sam gestured for them both to sit down in the living room.

Taking a deep sigh, Sam asked "How you holdin' up?"

"I'm okay."

"Your dad and uncle were...were close?"

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, they were brothers. They used to hang out all the time when Buffy and me were little."

"But not lately? Much?"

"No, it's not that. It's just... we used to be neighbors. And we lived across town in this house, and Uncle Roger lived next door, so he was over all the time."

"Right. So uh... how was it in that house when you and Buffy were kids?"

"It was fine... Why?"

Sam tried to take on a look of ease. "I'm just asking, really. So would you say that they were all good memories? Maybe something... I don't know... that could have involved your dad and uncle, maybe?"

Looking slightly uncomfortable and flustered, Max countered "What do you... why do you ask?"

Sam, who paused to observe Max's face with a slight squint in his eye, responded, "Just a question..."

Regaining his composure, he answered, "No. There was nothing. We were totally normal... Happy."

Sam didn't buy it for a second. And if Dean had have been with him instead of taking any opportunity to make eyes at a girl who had just lost her dad (and uncle), he would have agreed beyond a doubt that something very WRONG had happened in this family. Maybe more than once...

Sam only nodded and replied, "Good. No, that's... good... Say, uh, do you know when Buffy and Dean might be back?"

Max shrugged. "They should be here soon... Buffy has a route she likes to take... but she's been gone for a few more hours than she usually does-"

Just then Buffy and Dean burst through the door, both breathless, clutching at their sides, red in the face, and wearing too little clothing for a run at this level of freezing temperature. Dean quickly shut the door and leaned against it rubbing his arms to get some feeling back. Buffy grabbed a sweater hanging in the hallway and hurriedly threw it over herself.

Still gasping for air, Dean asked, "Hey can you get me one of those?"

Buffy, already slightly recovered but still holding a sweater tightly around herself, answered teasingly, "What do I look like to you? A maid? Get your own." Then she turned and caught Sam in his priest outfit and suddenly remembered that she couldn't just talk to Dean any way she wanted to. He was a man of God; a stranger. A man of God that looked FANTASTIC without a shirt maybe... but still - a man of God.

"Umm sorry, Father." Buffy apologized to Dean. "I sorta forgot who exactly I was talking to..."

In the background, Sam wore a look of bemused disbelief. Buffy however, thought it was because of her.

"I'm sorry Father Freely, I really didn't mean anything by it-"

"No, Buffy." Sam cut in. "Dean is... one of the more unorthodox pastor's at our church." Sam promised himself that he would chastise Dean later about his version of 'keeping it professional', but for now, he was forced to just save his ass. _But since when were idiot siblings fair_? He thought. "He uh... likes to consider himself as a man of God... and a man among men."

Dean, still clutching at his side, mouthed 'Good one!' from across the room while Max and Buffy looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.

"And if you don't mind Buffy, and Max of course, I need a word with Father... Simmons."

"Not at all... and maybe you guys would like a-" It was then Buffy noticed all the food on the dinner table, so she turned to Max with a sort of confused look on her face. "Wow... people are still giving us all the food we can eat? It's like a cool buffet but not." She unveiled a couple of dishes and noticed all the casseroles.

"So... what? Casseroles are now the 'we're-sorry-your-father-is-dead' food?" The slight emotionless tone to her sarcasm wasn't lost on anyone in the room.

The silent pause after her question was enough to make Buffy turn around and catch the guilty look on everyone's face.

"What?" After a few seconds, she relented. "Okay maybe that was a really stupid thing to say but-"

"Buffy..." Sam's voice was so quiet, Buffy almost didn't catch it. "Buffy... we uh... well we got a call this morning..."

"Where's my mom?" Buffy looked around the room and felt the overwhelming gloom and emptiness again.

"She's upstairs... she was exhausted and I think she needs some time alone to rest..."

"Why does she need to rest? She was sleeping here this morning. Why would she need to rest AGAIN?"

"Your mom is going through a hard time right now."

"Yeah, I know that! Hello! Kind of part of the crisis."

"No, Buffy, you're not listening... your uncle..."

Buffy froze. She hated Uncle Roger. Her dad scared her, but Uncle Roger was more like a loose cannon. Daddy would never touch her but Uncle Roger needed to be _reminded_ not to... Daddy was the monster. It was his brother that let the chain loose.

"What about him?" Buffy looked to Max. His face didn't... look upset. His face was neutral and hard to read. If Buffy hated their uncle, Max would take the cake. Max despised his existence.

"He died..." Buffy's head whipped back around to look at Sam in astonishment. "There is no need to... get into details but... he was found in his apartment this morning..."

Again with the mixed feelings... Buffy was happy yet ashamed of being happy. She was upset that he died and upset that she was upset. She hated him. But Uncle Roger didn't deserve to die... no one did... right?

"Wow..." Buffy felt even more overwhelmed. She wanted to throw the food across the room and scream in joy and anger. She had just ran for an hour or so, but suddenly her body regained all of her energy. The adrenaline rush was too much.

Sam and Dean both looked at each other, glad they didn't share with her the full extent of how Uncle Roger was most likely found.

Buffy looked up and noticed the look between the Fathers. Then something rather odd occurred to her.

"You don't seem surprised..." Her statement shocked everyone in the room. For a moment, none of the boys could tell who she was talking to, until they traced her making eye contact with Dean.

"What?!" Dean felt flustered like a deer caught in headlights.

"You were with me... when they got the call... But you don't seem surprised..." Buffy's world was crashing around her and she was afraid to move yet she couldn't stay in one spot. Instead, she decided to move closer to Dean... Father Simmons.

"Father?" She looked both at Sam and Dean, eyes bouncing between the two. "What time did they say they found his..." she couldn't continue but instead turned to Max, looking like someone in such a fragile state.

"They-"

"I wasn't asking you." Buffy cut Sam off. "Max?"

Max looked back and forth between Sam, Dean, and Buffy and hesitantly replied, "The police said that his body was found at 7 this morning... They think he died in the middle of the night... His groceries were still laying around like he just shopped..."

Buffy's eyes remained on Dean in a piercing glare. Before anyone saw, she ran at him with surprising force and pinned Dean to the door.

"Where were you last night?! GIVE ME THE TIME AND PLACE!"

Sam was about to extract Dean from Buffy's grasp but suddenly little Buffy had Dean in a choke-hold.

"DON'T COME NEAR ME, SAM! Where were you?" Dean stared down at Buffy without attempting to get out of her grasp, knowing it wouldn't help the situation if he did.

"Buffy... listen to me... we DIDN'T kill your uncle."

"But you know something... This morning... you had this look... both of you..." she turned her head and in just that moment, Dean took the opportunity and twisted himself out of Buffy's grasp and ran to Sam's side.

Max stayed to the side, unsure of where this conversation would go.

Buffy, frustrated and feeling slightly foolish, yelled "Somebody better start giving me answers and they better give them to me NOW!"

Sam caught the I-want-to-tell-the-truth look in his brother's eyes. "No Dean..."

"Are you guys priests? Just start from there... Are you guys really priests?" she asked with anxiety.

After a pause, Dean answered, "No... no we're not."

Buffy snorted and rested her hands on her hips angling her head to the ceiling. "Man among men my ass..." She looked back at them. "So what? You're just in it for the costumes?"

Sam with both hands up, tried to rationalize. "What we are is not important... Why we're here is... See, I had this... hunch that your dad was going to die..."

"A hunch?" Buffy gawked in disbelief. "Say, are your hunches usually this accurate and morbid?"

"Sometimes..." Sam admitted. "And we-" pointing at himself and Dean, "don't think your dad killed himself... we think something murdered him... something that might have murdered your uncle too..."

"Well that's a comforting thought... who's next?" Buffy asked sarcastically. "Say... if I get all the questions right, do I get this THING after me too? 'Cause that would be real swell!"

"You're not taking this seriously..."

"AND YOU ARE?! You really think that I'm going to believe two STRANGERS that called themselves priests; got themselves invited INTO MY HOUSE, and are telling me that they had a HUNCH that my dad was going to die?! JESUS! No offence... Oh but wait... that doesn't offend you. That SHOULDN'T offend you... because you're not priests. You're not the guys who tried to comfort me and my family. You're not the guys who made me feel like..." Her eyes welled up with tears of humiliation.

This time Dean took a small step forward with compassion in his eyes. "Believe me Buffy... the last thing I wanted was to trick you... It really wasn't about making you feel a certain way or to confuse you... we came because we wanted to help."

Tears welled up in her eyes and dripped past the eyelashes that wouldn't catch them. Down her cheeks, Buffy's trust slowly fell - drop by drop.

"Get out..."

"Buffy please..."

"GET OUT!!" Even more tears fell as Buffy saw the hurt cross her Dean's perfectly sculpted face. "Don't make me call the police... Get your things and get out of my house..."

Anguish and shame echoed in the hallway where not ten minutes ago, there had been laughter and teasing.

Shoulders hunched, Dean walked out of the house while Sam hurried upstairs to get all their belongings. When Sam came back down, he threw a jacket to his brother, then exited the house while Max watched the scene.

Dean still stood on the walkway, and didn't move until the last of brilliant green slipped past the doorway.

Both Winchesters walked to the car and drove away around the block. When out of sight of the Millers' household, Dean stopped the car but kept the motor running. He turned to his brother, and Sam thought he saw at a certain angle, a single slightly dry tear track along Dean's cheek.

"What have you got Sam?"

"Dean..."

"We can't help them if we don't finish our job! Did you talk to Max yet?"

"I did..." Sam nodded grimly.

"Okay... Let's find a motel first..."

"Dean..."

"I'm fine! What? You think this is the first time some chick yelled at me? I'm not you. I don't write poetry or swoon under her balcony begging her to forgive me. This is all just part of the job."

Shaking his head, Sam let the insult slide off of him and he turned to look back at the road thinking of what they should do next in order to stop the Millers from being picked off one by one.


End file.
